Population size provides insight into the nature of a county’s residential communities. This measure is also important for tracking growth or declines within a specific county and making comparisons across counties.
Changes in population occur through births, deaths and migration. Such shifts can indicate whether a county is attracting new residents, or when an economy is struggling or prosperous. Total population as a measure also helps in planning for current and future community needs.
Rural communities, especially those defined as rural according to the U.S. Census guidelines, present significantly different contexts from their urban and suburban counterparts. The strengths, needs and capacities of rural communities differ accordingly.
In Oregon, where there are only 12 cities with population greater than 50,000, knowing the proportion of the rural population in a county allows decision makers to develop more balanced strategies to support different types of communities.
A positive net migration means more people are moving into a county than are leaving, while a negative value means more people are moving out of a county than moving in.
Overall, urban areas in Oregon tend to have higher rates of net migration than in rural, but there are exceptions for individual counties. It is important for businesses and local leaders to understand net migration in order to anticipate the county’s future demands.
Population growth resulting from migration requires different resources than growth caused by natural increase. Understanding the various contributors to population change is important for long-range planning